Overview
Background: On 5 April 2017, a Presidential Decree established Azerbaijan’s Extractive Industries Transparency Commission (EITC) to drive the implementation of transparent reporting processes for the oil, gas and mining industries in the country. EITC’s Secretariat functions under the auspices of State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ). The EITC Secretariat’s authority includes provision of proposals on improvement of legislation to ensure transparency in the extractive industries. This work includes implementing Azerbaijan’s roadmap for disclosure of the beneficial ownership in extractive industries (RBOD). As part of its continued commitment to transparent reporting, EITC now seeks support in implementing that roadmap.
Beneficial ownership: Beneficial ownership refers to natural persons who directly or indirectly ultimately own and derive financial benefit from a company or commercial activity. There is no single global standard of beneficial ownership disclosure. There are various detailed definitions available and this project includes developing an appropriate definition for Azerbaijan.
Project: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is funding this project following a request from the SOFAZ to support the implementation of further transparency measures in the country’s extractive industries.
ADB selected the consortium of consultants including BDO Azerbaijan, Engaged Consulting and Michael Barron Consulting to undertake the RBOD implementation project after a competitive tender process. The overall objective of this project is to support EITC to implement its RBOD.
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The project focuses on the upstream and midstream extractive industries and covers at a minimum those companies that are involved in the exploration, development, extraction and export of oil, gas and other minerals, as well as companies that invest in, or enter into engineering, procurement and construction, operation and maintenance, or other long-term services contracts in relation to, any of those activities.
You can download and review the Q&A Matrix for supporting the implementation of the beneficial ownership disclosure roadmap for extractive industries in Azerbaijan here.